Replacement Wii straps arrive

And not a minute too soon! After all that "excited" gameplay we've been doing over the holiday weekend, we were starting to think we might assassinate our damn HDTV with a tennis smash in Wii Sports. We ordered our straps on the 15th, the day the replacement program was announced -- meaning they came a good 6 days later than expected. Still, it was Christmas and all that, so we'll spot 'em. Check out the pics of the new thicker strap!

Gallery

[mikeee @ Dec 28th 2006 4:22AM]

I requested replacement straps a day after the program was launch and still have not received a confirmation e-mail. What am i doing wrong nintendo @_@!!!! Ill be stalking the mailman till mine come. =D

[PodMonkeys @ Dec 27th 2006 2:57PM]

I'm waiting on my replacement straps, but in the mean time, I made some high-speed field expedient replacement straps from some military 550 cord (parachute cord). A small knot of 550 cord makes up the tightening loop.

Using the insert strands for the thin part, and the full cord for the main strap results in a strap whose main body can hold 550 lbs, and whose thin part that can hold 30 lbs.

[Alex @ Dec 27th 2006 2:57PM]

That's one meaty strap. wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

[the_godfather @ Dec 27th 2006 3:06PM]

got mine yesterday. i asked for 2, they gave me 4. can't complain. maybe its just in case my future wii-motes have the weak strap on them.

[SOCOMRAIDER @ Dec 28th 2006 1:09AM]

There is something wrong with their order processing. I ordered three, but received nine straps.

[y2julio @ Dec 27th 2006 3:08PM]

still looks too thin to me.

[blot @ Dec 27th 2006 3:19PM]

I'd be interested in seeing the results of stress testing the two straps to see how the new straps fare compared to the old straps. Actually, I'm more curious about how the old straps fare, period.

[BurnZ @ Dec 27th 2006 8:37PM]

Looks like they smeared poo on your envelope...

[TheGuy @ Dec 27th 2006 4:19PM]

We need the Mythbusters!

[nswint @ Dec 27th 2006 4:35PM]

I got mine on the 12/20 I guess I'm special :-)

[Joel @ Dec 27th 2006 7:16PM]

In your fifth photo, I see that the new strap seems to rub more to the edges of the plastic enclosure. Could that be a future problem?

[jalapeno @ Dec 27th 2006 6:09PM]

Ryan, I like that closeup of the envelope, looks like somebody wiped poop on your mail!

[decadeofevil @ Dec 27th 2006 6:19PM]

so yeah i recieved my new straps my componet cables for the wii and my vga cable for the 360 all on the same day .. what a good mail day!!!!

[DJBro @ Dec 28th 2006 7:06AM]

Yeha I got 4 they sent 8 :o

[EliteSpartan @ Dec 27th 2006 8:54PM]

Mine got to me like the friday before xmas. Mail must be slow where you guys are at haha.

[VAStateOfMind @ Dec 27th 2006 10:38PM]

EEWWWWWW -- my label had that SAME swash of poop-like material on it, just like Ryan's! What's up with THAT, Nintendo???

[jeff Foster @ Dec 27th 2006 7:46PM]

ya' know, i have one of each of the straps (old thin, and new thick) and i think the original thin one looks and feels better. i know it's only a small difference, but the thin one wrapped around itself much more cleanly than the bulkier new one.

...that, and i dont intend on being an idiot and throwing the thing out of my hands AT ALL, let alone hard enough to break the strap. ...but i suppose there may exist a number of retards out there who need the extra thickness. (coincidentally, those are the people who deserve to have a broken TV. survival of the least idiotic.) :P

[Joshua James @ Dec 27th 2006 9:12PM]

Who is dropping these controllers? I've never lost a racquet while playing tennis. Is the Wii that much easier to lose? I played all the Wii Sports games and never came close to losing the controller.

[CaptCaveman @ Dec 27th 2006 8:51PM]

I received mine on Saturday (or maybe Friday). For some strange reason my GF brought the envelope in while I was browsing the web and said "This looks important".
They are still sitting on my desk. The new ones don't look much different then the ones that I have.
Maybe I'll keep them sealed for the next 20 years and be able to sell them on Ebay 20 bucks each or something.

[Jordan @ Dec 27th 2006 10:13PM]

Man, I made fun of people breaking their stuff, and even insisted that most of them were lying. We (hah) opened the Wii on Christmas morning and in 10 MINUTES, no joke, my wife ruined 3 vertical blinds playing baseball in Wii sports. She swung the bat and the controller somehow (???) slipped from her hands, the strap broke and shizzam. Luckily the blinds were closed or it could have went through the sliding glass door. It was violent. My wife is a normal girl, not retarded like the above people suggested, and we are both huge Nintendo fans. No clue how it happened. I have seen it slip from the kids hands, but the original strap held.

I ordered the replacement straps from the Opera browser in the Wii. The zooming was not fun, but it worked.. ;)

[CaptCaveman @ Dec 27th 2006 11:25PM]

Here's something strange. I just go another email from Nintendo telling me that another strap order is ready. This email had the order status in Spanish and French as well as English.

Looks like I'll be getting 2 more straps.

Am I lucky or what?

[Chris Prabhu @ Dec 28th 2006 2:28AM]

tested it out yet? it still looks kinda weak

[kdmaster @ Dec 28th 2006 2:41AM]

what about straps in anywhere outside of us? the form is for us/canada only!

[wolffie @ Dec 28th 2006 11:25AM]

Replacement parts are nice, and i understand that most of you have ordered the straps to prevent any future mishaps. I have done so myself, just because i like free stuff. However, what i do not understand is; Why are people letting go of the remote, to allow the straps to break and allow the remote to go thru the TV of wall. There is no game that I have seen that requires you to let go of the controller, just let go of the button; ie bowling.

[chad @ Dec 28th 2006 2:24PM]

mine still havent shiped :(

[jess @ Jan 4th 2007 6:50PM]

some people have really sweaty hands, and they get worse when they are tense. ive seen a remote slip because of this. its gross, cuz the germs in their hands and the sweat make it look like dark water on the contoller...

[blue balls @ Jan 1st 2007 2:14PM]

yea i agree with jess but-it happened to me and my hand wernt sweating--luckly my strap held on--(for dear life)--/didnt break

[kent @ Jan 7th 2007 1:11PM]

when you order replacement straps, do they come with a new wii remote or just the new strap

[kent @ Jan 7th 2007 1:13PM]

when you order replacement straps, do they come with a new
wii remote
or just the new strap